Guanciale | 300g, 400g, 500g

Guanciale - Rendering and Carbonara

Cured pork jowl. Delivered frozen. Defrost 12 hours. Count 30 to 40g per person in pasta.

1. Defrost
Move the pack from freezer to fridge. Leave it sealed, on a plate. Allow 12 hours for a whole piece. Once defrosted it keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, wrapped in paper rather than plastic. Do not refreeze.

2. Take the rind off
There is a firm skin on one side. Cut it away and keep it. It will not soften in the pan, but dropped into a pot of beans or a stock it gives up everything it has.

3. Cut it thick
Slice the block about 5mm thick, then across into short batons. Thicker than you would cut bacon. Guanciale is mostly fat, and thin strips vanish into nothing once the fat renders out.

4. Start in a cold, dry pan
No oil. No butter. Put the batons in the pan before you light the hob. A cold start lets the fat come out slowly instead of the outside catching first.

5. Render low and slow
Medium-low heat, 8 to 10 minutes. Move it around now and then. You want the fat clear and pooling, the edges golden and crisp, the centre of each piece still soft. Take it off before it goes uniformly brown and hard.

6. The fat is the point
Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon and leave every drop of fat in the pan. That rendered fat is the sauce in every dish below. Pouring it away is the one mistake worth avoiding.

7. Carbonara, the Roman way
Cook the pasta. Beat egg yolks with grated pecorino and a lot of black pepper. Drain the pasta, keeping a mugful of the water. Off the heat, toss the pasta through the guanciale fat, then stir in the egg and cheese, loosening with the hot pasta water until it turns glossy. Return the guanciale. No cream, and never over direct heat, or the egg scrambles.

8. Beyond carbonara
Gricia is the same dish without the egg. Amatriciana adds tomato and chilli to the rendered fat. Beyond pasta, it lifts braised beans, lentils, bitter greens, and a plain potato roasted in its fat.

9. Do not treat it as bacon
Guanciale is cured, not smoked, and far fattier. It needs less heat and more time. Season the dish only after the guanciale is in, because the cure carries plenty of salt already.

How much to use
30 to 40g a head for pasta. A 300g piece serves eight as carbonara. Use what you need and return the rest to the fridge, cut face wrapped in paper.

Delivered frozen. Keep frozen at -18°C until needed. Use by the date on the pack.
Defrost in the fridge, in its packaging, on a plate. Allow 12 hours for a whole piece.
Never defrost at room temperature or in a microwave.
Once defrosted, keep at 0-4°C. Guanciale is a cured product and will keep for up to 2 weeks. Wrap the cut face in paper rather than plastic, so it can breathe.
Do not refreeze once thawed.